Reverse Watercolor Cuties - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! Today I'm moving on from birthday cards, but you might notice a similarity between yesterday's and today's cards? These cards also feature a plain focal image, with background color to make them pop! The main difference is that these use watercolor instead of ink blending to add the color. And how sweet is this stamp set from Simon Says Stamp?!?!?

I started off by stamping my main images from A Mother's Love on panels of watercolor paper. I pulled out my Altenew watercolors, and carefully added a wash of color around the images, doing my best not to get any color on the images - but not worrying about perfection either! I faded it out to a soft edge, and added a bit of shading and blending of extra colors. I masked out the images by setting the clear stamp over the top (a quick easy trick!) and mixed some Sparkle Gold Paste with a bit of water to add some soft splatters to the background. While that all dried, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiments, stamping in white pigment ink, then embossing with white powder for a nice crisp image on the black cardstock. Those were added with tiny bits of foam adhesive strips for just a touch of dimension! Here is a closer look at these two sweet cards:

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Cute Wild Critter Birthday Cards - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! I'm back with more birthday cards! This time I wanted some fun kid ones that would work for girls or boys equally, and I think these came out so cute! I paired up a couple different sets from Simon Says Stamp to put these together! I used a stencil that was designed to coordinate with a different set, and used it an completely different way!

I started off with the Mod Plants Blocks stencil set. While it is designed to coordinate with another stamp set, it also is versatile enough to be fun on it's own! It is basically two stencils that are close to squares, but slightly elongated to rectangles, and are slightly different sizes. By stenciling first the larger stencil in each lighter shade in my ink pairings, then stenciling the smaller one over the top, I got a fun framed background effect. I used Peachy and Grapefruit; Butter and Zest; Jade and Eucalyptus; and Seafoam and Surf. Next, I pulled out Wild Birthday, and at first, I stamped the images directly over the inked backgrounds, added sentiments, and a few little additional small images on all except the monkey one. I ended up deciding that I wanted them to pop a bit more, so I stamped them again and die cut, then popped those images up with foam. The monkey one is unique, because it die cuts without including the background, so it gave it even more dimension. To finish, I added little colored bows to each one using a new set of Prima spools of yarn that I picked up recently, gluing them onto each image in a cute place. Here are more photos and a closer look at each of these cards:

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Bright Daisies Birthday Duo - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! Still filling up my birthday stash, but this time I switched over to some bold and happy floral cards! I love this newer floral background from Simon Says Stamp - it was so much fun to watercolor! And then splitting the design so I could create two cards? Even better!

I started off by stamping the new Gerbera Daisy background on watercolor paper with Nocturne ink, then heat embossing with clear embossing powder. This step isn't necessary with this ink, since it is safe to watercolor, but I love the added shine it gave, and how it creates little pockets to hold the watercolors! Next, I pulled out my Altenew watercolor palette, and colored the blooms in bright pink, yellow, and orange tones. Once it dried, I trimmed the panel in half to mount on a white cardbase. Sentiment is Bouncy Happy Birthday, die cut from black cardstock for the shadow layer, and white glitter cardstock for the main layer - a subtle bit of sparkle and texture! I added secondary sentiments from Tiny Words Birthday, then finished off with a few bold Black Dazzling Gems. Here are more photos of the finished set:

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

5 Ways in 5 Days Embossing Folder Edition on the Simon Says Stamp YouTube Channel

Hello! Did you see the fun series of educational video classes that Simon Says Stamp did last week? I shared the very last video - for Bonus Day 2 of classes (which means there was actually 7 days of classes!). If you missed it, you can catch my video HERE, or click on the graphic below to go to YouTube and watch.

I shared TONS of examples of fun ways to pair embossing folders with heat embossing, one of my favorite techniques! 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

Masculine Highland Cow Birthday - Simon Says Stamp

 Good morning! Back one last time with the final masculine card from the collection I created the other day using supplies from Simon Says Stamp. The ones I made before were in trios, and this one is just a single one that is a bit more layered and intricate! And...it uses up the final leftover from the first cards too! 

For this card, I wanted to use the inside leftover pieces from the first cards, cut from the Carta Bella Cowboys and Cowgirl paper pads, cut with the Square Shaker die. They were small enough that instead of putting them each on a separate card, I thought they would mix well on one card! I grabbed the Dancing Starlets embossing folder and embossed some Lawn Fawn Speckled Eggshell cardstock to create a soft textured background, then adhered those pattern paper squares overlapping in the center. I die cut the Ornate Star die from Honey Gold cardstock to add a touch more interest, then stacked one of the Highland Cows over the top, stamped in black ink and clear heat embossed to make it pop a bit extra. Sentiments are from Birthday Basics for the main one, and EZ Strips birthday for the second one, cut with EZ Strips banners die. I rounded off one corner of the entire card, and then added a few more coordinating enamel dots to finish this one off! Here is a closer look:

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Masculine Birthday Trio - Simon Says Stamp

Good morning! I'm back today (as promised!) with a second set of masculine birthday cards, using many of the same supplies from Simon Says Stamp. You may recognize this pattern paper? Yep - these are the panels that I cut the frames out of for yesterday's cards! I always love not wasting anything, and these were no exception. Instead of just cutting from a corner of the pieces of pattern paper, I cut from panels so that I could use the windows I created for more cards!

The pattern paper is from the same Carta Bella Cowboys and Cowgirl paper pads from yesterday, and the window was cut with Square Shaker die. I stamped some images and sentiments from the older Best Year yet stamp set on my cardbases behind the windows first, then adhered those framed panels with foam adhesive over the top. I wrapped several wraps of Jute Twine around each card, and tied in a bow - I thought about just tying a knot to make them even more simple and masculine, but decided a bow was okay! :) Haha! Finally, I added a few Dazzling Gold gems - again, pushing the masculine a bit, but I couldn't resist! I guess if you put some money inside, is any guy really going to care?!? Here is a closer look at this set of cards:

Product links are all below - including affiliate links where possible, which simply means if you use one of the links below that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!